This invention relates to a method for decreasing the potential of sodium-containing coal to foul coal burning equipment. The presence of significant amounts of sodium in coal can cause many problems in the equipment utilized to burn same. For example, the use of a coal having a high sodium content as a metallurgical coal or as a premium boiler fuel can cause severe fouling problems in boilers.
Certain coal, such as that found in various deposits in the State of Illinois, has a low enough sulfur content that it may be used as a metallurgical coal or as a premium boiler fuel in power plants without the need for removing a portion of the sulfur therefrom. However, this coal does contain levels of sodium which give it a high probability of causing severe fouling problems in boiler or metallurgical coal applications.
Reduction of the fouling potential of such coal would provide a coal which meets allowable specifications for a typical steam coal. One method for reducing the fouling potential previously known is to reduce the sodium content thereof by leaching, but such leaching requires long contact times of 100 hours or more and large expensive pieces of equipment within which to conduct such leaching. Therefore, there is needed a fast, efficient method for decreasing the potential of sodium-containing coal to foul the equipment it is burned in.